Best PlacesWateree, SC Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wateree, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Wateree ranks 45,844th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Crime pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on tree cover.
The best neighborhoods in Wateree
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Wateree's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wateree ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 71% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 69% of towns
- QuietBetter than 63% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 57% of towns
Where Wateree ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of towns
- Short commute38.7 minutes each way, better than only 7% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wateree
A household needs to earn about $18,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wateree home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,832, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Wateree's effective rate of 0.68%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wateree
Wateree's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wateree.
Who works in Wateree, and how
Work in Wateree centers on education and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Wateree
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Wateree.
What the weather is like in Wateree, month by month
Wateree sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 47° | 35° |
| April | 79° | 65° | 51° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 66° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Wateree
The nearest airport, Columbia Metro, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Charleston AFB/International, about 71 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wateree
Schools across Wateree average a D+, better than 18% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Webber SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Manchester ElementaryD− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- Furman MiddleD+ · 25% proficient
- Southeast MiddleD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Lakewood HighC+ · 35% proficient
- Lower Richland HighC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wateree school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wateree measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Wateree against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wateree
Is Wateree a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wateree ranks 45,844th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, state infrastructure, and a strong job market, and lowest on crime and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wateree expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $70,315. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $69,832 median income, cost of living beats 30% of towns.
Is Wateree safe?
Wateree is safer than 3% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,063 per resident a year.
Compare Wateree with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wateree. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wateree represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Wateree detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wateree: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wateree: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wateree: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wateree: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wateree detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.